Pogrom Parallels

In the aftermath of the Russian revolution, the various factions (White Russians, Bolsheviks, Greens) fought bitterly throughout modern day Ukraine. One was nationalist, one was socialist, one was populist (roughly). They differed in terms of politics, vision, and ethnic/cultural makeup.

But these three bitterly opposed groups had one thing in common: antisemitism. All told, the estimates of Jews killed by these three groups in the Ukraine of 1918 - 1920 was 30,000 - 70,000 (Gitelman 2001). Each faction attributed their problems to Jewish meddling, Jewish money lending, Jewish witchcraft. My grandmother's family fled one of these "pogrom" attacks when she was an infant. Her family's political persuasion was irrelevant because all of the opposing groups had some fanciful justification for their hatred. The end result was the same: dead Jewish families.

19th Century engraving of a Jewish Progom

With the slaughter of 11 innocents in a Pittsburgh synagogue, I'm reminded of this time period today.

The murderer on Saturday was a far-right white nationalist convinced that the Jews are behind the mass migration of Central American "invaders" and "terrorists." (Mind you, those people are refugees fleeing violence like my grandmother's family did, not causing it). Alt-right bigots like the gunman have been been whipped into a dangerous frenzy by ugly rising populism and a divisive media.

But that attack could have conceivably been carried out by a left-wing gunman, convinced that the non-violent activist tactics of intersectionalist movements are insufficient to move the dial on Palestinian occupation. Violence against the Zionists in a Jewish congregation, they might think, would lead to more action and change. Such an atrocity would not be supported by any mainstream group, but I imagine there would have been dancing in the streets in some places.

The bigger threat to our country generally, and Jews in particular, is white nationalism. We need to address the root causes that have emboldened those who would harm marginalized communities. But we should not fool ourselves into thinking that antisemitism is a left/right issue. We don't know the political beliefs of the slain, but like 1918 Ukraine, it's irrelevant. Antisemitism runs deep in all directions.